Mesker Woods is the newer and much more wooded of the two courses in the park. This one is a great counterpart to the original offering just as much, if not a bit more elevation but being heavily wooded for almost every hole.

The baskets out here are bright green Prodigy's. These are all in good shape and catch alright. There's one basket and pin placement per hole.

Concrete tees on all holes. These look to be the same size as the original course's pads. Plenty long enough and not the widest but wide enough for most players. One tee per hole.

Great design out here for this one. There's all the different shots you can imagine out here. With it being so tightly wooded it's much harder to get by with only having a single type of throw off the tee. Hell, even some of the clearly RHBH holes are tough to hit throwing RHBH. Not that they're not fair, they all are, they're just very specific on some holes. There's also a pretty even mix of up and downhill throws.

The tee signs are much more basic on this course. Very simple hole map along with hole #, par and distance. The signs do have a hole elevation chart on each. I've never found any use out of these but some people probably do.

The course was very clean and there were numerous benches and even a couple of chairs by the tees. The course is permanent and free to play. This course will probably be the less busy of the two if I had to guess too.

These tee signs are not very good. Especially compared to the one on the original course. The hole map is basically useless. Some of them are legit useless. Hole 13's just looked like a squiggle line. The hole does have a few bends to it but also goes to the right. It'd be much nicer to have a better map than the elevation loss or gain on each hole.

I never understood the idea behind having green baskets for a woods course. But that's what they have here. Not the easiest things to spot with a green background everywhere.

There's a few spots where I looks like it'll get pretty nasty off the fairway in the summer. We spent a good twenty minutes looking for a disc before finding it and the underbrush is still very thin in April.

There's a couple spots where it helps to have a map. Nothing crazy but we did get turned around a couple times. A couple next tee signs would help with this in certain spots.

This course was a blast. I'm partial to tight wooded courses and this one does that fantastically. I'd absolutely recommend this one to anyone in this area. Combined with the original course this is one of the better one two punches at the same park as I've ever seen. I'd play this one again without a doubt.

1) Noticed this course had not been reviewed in over 5 years and since it is one of my semi-close to home wooded favorites I figured I would give an updated review.

2) Very nice densely wooded course in Evansville, IN. Very large parking lot, multiple pavilions, a small playground, right next to Mesker Zoo and the Mesker Park course. Bonus points for being able to play a hybrid layout of Mesker Park and Mesker Woods (used for AM worlds in 2022) that really emphasizes the best of both courses while adding a lot of distance and difficulty.

3) New Prodigy baskets, Practice basket right next to the parking lot beside Hole #1, multiple benches and trash cans throughout, large textured concrete tee pads, bland tee signs but they do offer a ton of relevant information including elevation drop/gain from tee to green and a topographical visual of the hole to show the elevation changes.

4) Stellar use of elevation change in a densely wooded parcel of land. You not only have to hit tight lines, but you have to navigate often large chunks of quick elevation changes, plan for ground play, and avoid roll aways.

5) Not an enormous property by any means, especially being right next to Mesker Park disc golf course, but use of the property available is well done. The holes are tightly packed together but almost always have enough thick tree cover and elevation difference to shield opposing fairways from errant throws.

6) Multiple Signature Holes, probably too many to list and do justice to.
(Hole 1) Starts you off with a blind up and over a hill through a tight wooded gap to a basket perched right on the edge of a ledge with a steep drop off behind it. To give you an idea of the downslope, there is a ten foot tall flag on top of the basket that you can just barely see the top of if you stand on the tee pad and jump. You must hit a gap, control the speed, get the disc to stop, and then make a nervy death putt on the very first hole, at least it's only like 180 feet.
(Hole 2) One of the funnest shots to throw on the course, downhill tunnel roughly 20 feet wide the entire way, low ceiling, probably 60 feet in elevation drop tee to green to a basket perched on a small elevated knoll. Hole is just over 400 ft put can be reached with a straight flying putter or mid. Keeping the disc straight that long over that much elevation change is tricky.
(Hole 6) The first of your sub 200 foot ace runs, this hole plays over a steep valley which makes the trees that line the tunnel create a low ceiling, but the uphill slope of the green and the catch fence behind the green (to protect #13 tee pad) make this easily runable. Be careful though, hitting an early tree or landing on the wrong angle on this green can turn an easy 2 into a bogey or worse pretty easily.
(Hole 7) a massive downhill left to right hole roughly 375 ft with skinny gap after skinny gap to hit on the way to a heavily guarded green. The view if great, you are right next to an auxilary parking lot with modern bathrooms, there are benches to sit and take a breather. Great hole.
(Hole 11) a 225 foot snaking tunnel that plays slightly uphill the entire way. A definite ace run protected by a deep creek bed in front of the basket and a landing zone that is several feet above the playing surface leading up to the creek. Two separate wooden bridges that can be major obstructions or cause weird disc reactions if hit. A should get two, but a very hard green to stick close.
(Hole 12) Another sub 200 foot ace run through a tight tunnel with two trees that lean out from either side of the fairway to force an even skinnier straight gap or make you play a risky hyzer up and around the trees. Green is very choppy and difficult to land on with the correct speed after having to shape your disc down the fairway.

7) Huge mix of elevation and shot shapes, uphill, downhill, side slopes, straight, left, right, this course has it all.

8) Blurs the line well between being a pro level difficulty course while still being low amateur playable (and fun still). Solid mix of short but technical holes balanced against some very beastly holes that require supreme accuracy and distance to score on.

1) Awkward walks and transitions at times, between hole 7 and 8 is one, Hole 6 and Hole 13 have teepads right next to each other in different directions, Hole 17 to Hole 18 you walk right out of the woods into 18's fairway and risk getting drilled.

2) This course is notoriously thick and hard to keep well groomed. While the tight narrow fairways are always kept well, the rough is EXTREME on either side most often. Lost discs and ninja battles with thorn bushes are common place here.

3) The canopy keeps most of this course shaded constantly which is great during those hot summer months, however this course can tend to stay wet and soggy during the rainier season. Footing is an issue with all the sloping trails and holes.

4) Hole #17 has to be the sore thumb of this course. It is probably one of the worst designed holes I have ever played. The rest of the course is great to spectacular, but this hole is terrible and hated by almost everyone not involved in designing it. Imagine a capital L layed over on it's side and that is the hole shape. Tee box is at the end of the little portion of the L with the basket at the end of the longer portion of the L. This hole is 385 FT as the crow flies, but if you play the designed fairway it is more in the 490-500 foot range and it is a Par 3 and uphill the entire way. There is no way to cut the corner. You are forced to throw down the tunnel and end right roughly 180 feet to make the corner and thick tree line blocking the inside, outside, and long landing zones. Then you must navigate a well protected fairway and small green. Outside of a miraculous righty backhand roller I have never seen anyone in circle 2 off the tee. And this is a very odd hole as there are some much softer Par 4's on the course.

Wonderful advanced level heavily wooded course in an area that really only has lightly wooded and open bomber courses. Well designed (outside of one hole) that maximizes the land available. This course is #1 on the list of reasons to visit Evansville to play, while not the caliber of most of the 4.5 and better rated courses on here, Mesker Woods offers a unique difficult wooded course feel without being exclusive to skill level. A must play in the area an solid enough, aided by so many other courses nearby, to warrant suggestion for a weekend trip to the area to bag them all. Start here though.

Evansville finally has its first completely wooded course, and yes, this review is going to be a bit biased, but sincere since wooded courses are my personal favorites. I was stoked to play this, and it didn't disappoint! Uphill, downhill, left, right, this course is an equal opportunity ego destroyer. It has some downright beautiful shots, Hole 2 stands out in my memory. There are some ace runs here, but there are some BEAST holes that will challenge you to the core. 7, 8, and 9 stand out as holes that humble you with their length, but impress you with the great shot selections.

There's a couple awkward walks, between Hole 7 and Hole 8 is one. Took me several minutes to figure out which path to take. But other than those quirks, which seem common in both the other Mesker course and Woodmere here in town, the flow was good. No amenities like trash cans, but the course is new, so this may change. The hike is awesome, but make sure you are prepared for it, footing wise. I was an idiot since I live only 5 minutes away, and didn't think about that. I won't be dumb twice.

If you are looking to pull numerous discs out of your bag, and you love the feel of being completely in the woods, then play this course! It's challenging, but fair, scenic, and yet, close to everything. If you play both courses at Mesker, the other is much more open, you'll get a wonderful day out of 36 holes in and around very old and mature woods. Evansville finally has a destination location, and it's Mesker Park. Thanks to the Ace Eagle Disc Golf Club, and the city of Evansville for making this a reality. I can't wait until my next day off!

Very challenging and punishing course on off days. Excellent change of elevations and dog legs. My son and I just started playing it within the past few months and are loving it! Good diversity of discs and techniques needed to be successful throughout the 18 holes. So nice to have Mesker Park and the Woods course to choose from each chance we are able to play. Just when you think the course kicked your throat....the back nine drops some science on your face.

New course....very slippery to walk this winter, but looking forward to the greenery and a little more traction come summer! First time out it was a bit difficult to locate #8. My son and I try to pick up trash each time we're out.....there seems to be some people who have no sense of conservation. Maybe we all do our part and pick some trash as we play to counteract the evil-doers. No other cons to mention. Love the course.

Many thanks to the Eagle Ace DGC, City of Evansville, and any others that help make the Mesker courses possible! Because of your hard work I'm able to spend quality time with my son and teach him the benefits of low footprint activities and doing our part to keep the courses clean!

Great technical shots around huge mature trees. Nicely designed holes with fantastic use of elevation. Very fun to play! E.g. 2 and 16 play straight downhill 400+ through a tunnel of trees. It's a beautiful hike through the woods.

Still new course so there isn't a great amount of foot travel, couple of holes still need cleaning up some (only an amount of time though as there are a lot of disc golfers in this area and will get better everyday). Not very cart friendly. Very hilly.

Over the hill and through the woods to the basket we go! Overall a very challenging but fair course. A good score can definitely be shot but you must keep it straight, laying up and playing for par is the way to go on several holes. However there are still a couple ace run holes as well (6 and 12). Might be a little difficult for beginners but really great for all other skill levels because it's not really long but still technical for big arms.